Frankfurt 2013: Hyundai i20 rally car looks fun

Hyundai's new World Rally Championship car, based on the similarly diminutive i20 runabout, was shown at Frankfurt.

PHOTO: Brendan McAleer, Postmedia News

Hyundai's new World Rally Championship car, based on the similarly diminutive i20 runabout, was shown at Frankfurt.

PHOTO: Brendan McAleer, Postmedia News

By Brendan McAleer, Postmedia News

Originally published: September 10, 2013

SMALL

MEDIUM

LARGE

Alan Rushforth, senior vice-president for Hyundai Europe, outlined how his company has become “truly European” with its European head office based in Frankfurt, its R&D centre just 20 kilometres away, and the Hyundai motorsport division about an hour’s drive.

The world premiere of the i10 subcompact revealed some fairly humble talking points as Rushforth pointed out a lack of exposed screwheads and no exposed metal in the cabin. Still, the new smallest Hyundai is a handsome little thing and while a humble 1.0-litre engine makes it unlikely to make a North American appearance any time soon, perhaps you’ll have a chance at renting one when on holiday.

More exciting was Hyundai’s new World Rally Championship car — based on the similarly diminutive i20 runabout (a two-door version of the Accent), this carbon-fibre-flared monster will start attacking the gravel in January of next year. Hyundai also has a new development and testing centre at the Nürburgring.

With 22 new vehicles and variants planned across the range, Hyundai is referring to their major sales push in Europe as Product Momentum 2017. A full 75% of European Hyundais are less than five years old, and the company plans on leveraging its strong foothold, offering a unique five-year unlimited mileage warranty.